The 2016 election is but two years away, but Hillary Clinton and Chris Christie are all the press can talk about.
The former secretary of state and the New Jersey governor have received more media coverage than any other potential presidential candidates, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of top newspapers around the nation.
Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 27, analysis of the United States’ 15 top newspapers found 82 stories mentioned Clinton and Christie, respectively, as potential 2016 candidates.
Far less Democrats have been talked about than Republicans: Just four potential Democrats — Clinton, Elizabeth Warren (22), Joe Biden (18) and Martin O’Malley (16) — have been named in 15 or more newspaper stories, compared to 13 GOPers.
Mitt Romney (74), Ted Cruz (58), Rand Paul (67) and Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio (53) round out the top five most talked about Republicans.
Overall, more stories have talked about potential GOP candidates (202) than Democratic ones (115), the analysis shows.
This analysis could be a sign of things to come: In the first nine months of this year, there have already been 541 newspaper stories written about the 2016 presidential election. In 2012 that number was just 271.
According to a RealClearPolitics average of polls, Clinton is leading the Democratic field by 54 points — Biden is her closest challenger followed by Warren, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Sen. Bernie Sanders and O’Malley.
The Republican field is closer: Rand Paul leads with 11.8 points and Christie, Bush, Rep. Paul Ryan, Gov. Rick Perry, Cruz, and Rubio are all within striking distance.
